The Morning Shakeout Podcast

On a weekly basis, host Mario Fraioli gleans unique insights and inspiration from a wide range of athletes, coaches, and personalities in the sport of running through compelling longform conversations you won’t hear anywhere else.

Podcast: Re-Run with Chelsea Sodaro

This week I’m re-running a conversation I had over three years ago with Chelsea Sodaro, who recently won the Ironman World Championships in Kona. When this episode originally went live in April of 2019, Chelsea hadn’t done an Ironman yet and she wasn’t even a household name in triathlon at the time. Nor was she a mom, which is a big part of what made her most recent victory so special and impressive. In this conversation, we talked about how Chelsea got into running—for those of you who don’t know, before she was a champion triathlete, Chelsea was a world-class runner and a two-time national champion on the roads and track—why she transitioned into triathlon, and where she gets her competitive drive from. Chelsea told me how she’s dealt with injury throughout her career and the special relationship she has with Olympian Magdalena Boulet. We also discussed why she felt so alone and empty immediately after winning her first triathlon, the advice she’d give her younger self, and a lot more.

Podcast: Common Ground | Episode 10

I’m excited to bring you the 10th installment of Common Ground, a monthly podcast co-hosted by me and Dinée Dorame of the Grounded Podcast. In this episode, we talk about our respective experiences at the New York City Marathon, we geek out on some recent cross-country action, and a lot more.

Podcast: Re-Run with Fernando Cabada

Heading into this holiday week we’re going to re-run one of my favorite episodes of the podcast from years past. This one is from January 2020 and it’s with Fernando Cabada, a former professional distance runner who is still competing at an elite level. In fact, Fernando is now one of the fastest Masters runners in the country, running 2:16:51 at Grandmas Marathon back in June to qualify for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon. He’s also the Masters American record-holder for 50K, running 2:57:35 earlier this year.

Podcast: The Weekly Rundown with Billy Yang and Brendan Leonard

This week I’m sharing the latest episode of the Weekly Rundown, which is usually a Patreon-only podcast that I co-host with my friend Billy Yang. We’ve been on a bit of a hiatus since May, but we’re back with special guest Brendan Leonard of Semi-Rad—who you can listen to on Episode 211 of my podcast if you haven’t already—and the three of us catch up on what we've been up to of late, we talk all things NYC Marathon, and a lot more.

Podcast: Episode 216 with Jake Wightman

In this conversation, Jake Wightman talked about the world 1500m final and the tactics he used to take the win. Jake told me about what it was like to come off the high of that world title and still having to race in the Commonwealth Games and European Championships in the weeks that came after it. We discussed pressure as a privilege, what it’s like going into races now as a favorite rather than an underdog, and how he’s learned to appreciate his accomplishments over the years. Jake also talked about growing up as the son of two accomplished runners, being coached by his dad and the dynamics of their relationship, and a lot more.

Podcast: Common Ground | Episode 9

I’m excited to bring you the 9th installment of Common Ground, a monthly podcast co-hosted by me and Dinée Dorame of the Grounded Podcast. In this episode, Dinée shares a couple personal updates, we geeked out and got excited about the upcoming New York City Marathon, which we’ll both be heading to later this week—we also shared some information about the respective events we’ll be involved in, so keep an ear open for those—we talked some music, of course, and a lot more.

Podcast: Episode 215 with Marielle Hall

Marielle Hall and I talked about how she’s using this training camp as an opportunity to re-center herself and set the tone for the year ahead. She told me about traps that she’s gotten stuck in over the years and how she’s trying to maintain focus and keep the main thing the main thing. We discussed how she’s feeling now versus a year ago when she left the Bowerman Track Club, and when she knew it was time to change her training environment.

Podcast: Episode 214 with Chris Mosier

This week’s episode is with Chris Mosier. Chris is a hall of fame triathlete, an All-American duathlete, a 6-time member of Team USA, and a two-time national champion and Olympic Trials qualifier in race walking. He’s also a Nike-sponsored athlete who, in 2015, became the first known transgender man to represent the United States in international competition. Beyond all of that, however, Chris is an incredible person who knows himself better than nearly anyone I’ve ever met and he’s an advocate, inspiration, mentor, and a role model to so many, myself included. In this wide-ranging conversation, Chris and I talked about his relationship to sport and how that’s evolved throughout his life. We discussed identity and how he shows up in the different communities that he belongs to, as well as why he doesn’t want to be seen in any one particular type of way. Chris told me about navigating the world now as a white male and how that perspective differs from what he experienced earlier in his life, how we can all be allies and advocates for equal rights in sports and society, and so, so much more.

Podcast: Episode 213 with Alison Mariella Désir 

This conversation with Alison Mariella Désir was a very topical one and centered around Alison’s new book, Running While Black, which is available for pre-order now and will be available for purchase everywhere on October 18. We talked about the book, how it came to be, and how it evolved during the process of writing it. Alison shared some of her experiences of being a Black woman in a very white space, she told me about the impact she hopes her book will have, we discussed what “reimagining the run” could look like for future generations, and so much more. 

Podcast: Common Ground | Episode 8

I am super excited about this episode of Common Ground, a monthly podcast co-hosted by me and Dinée Dorame of the Grounded Podcast. It’s one we’ve been talking about doing for a long time, and it’s one that many listeners have been asking for: we’ve put together a Common Ground playlist! That’s right,10 songs from me, 10 songs from Dinee, and you can access them all on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. There is no running talk this week but we go through each of the songs we chose, why we chose them, and we had a lot of fun doing it.